Adopt vegetarian diet for Lent, beyond

Here's a Flint Journal letter to the editor for Feb. 27, 2009: (Give your view on this letter in the comments area below)

Wednesday marked the beginning of Lent, the 40-day period preceding Easter when Catholics and other Christians are supposed to abstain from meat and dairy products in memory of Jesus' 40 days of fasting and prayer in the desert. With religious devotion yielding to self-indulgence, this tradition has gradually given way to less stringent dietary restrictions.

Yet, Jesus' message of compassion and love for all living beings applies to our time more than ever. It's a time when animals are raised for food under conditions of caging, crowding, deprivation, drugging and mutilation. It's a time when they are trucked to slaughterhouses for days without food or water, then bled, skinned and dismembered while still conscious.

It's a time when wastes from factory farms foul the water we drink and the air we breathe, when meat production accounts for 18 percent of greenhouse gases responsible for global warming and when many killer diseases are linked to consumption of animal products.

Let's show our respect for the teachings of Jesus by refusing to subsidize these sins against nature and humanity with our food dollars. For Lent and beyond, let's embrace the wholesome, nonviolent diet of vegetables, fruits and grains first set forth in the Bible.